I am in the process of studying for my licensing exam in the state of Tennessee and plan to work in the Chattanooga area upon completion of the test (which will be quite soon).

Do you have an idea of what your time horizon is for your investment plan?

Purchase price: $690,000 Cash invested: $172,500 Took a gamble on a larger single family home in an up and coming master planned community.

I just acquired one from a PM where they were charging a tenant a resident benefit package and a building protection plan.  

@Arthur Savery, This can be a great game plan called a diversification exchange. 

Hi Julia,Rehabbing fire-damaged properties can be a profitable venture, but it requires careful planning and additional considerations.

You will have to verify those yourselves to ensure you end up with correct operating expenses.Quote from @Andrew Newcomb: Just following up on this in case anyone is still following:I learned about "cap rate" and "cash on cash" metrics in the BP learning articles and watched a couple vids on the BP rental calculator showing how it calcs those metrics for a prop (you have to add the details like loan info, expenses, etc). very cool tool.

At every single point in history, people think that the market as it is then, is so hard, and so expensive to get into.

@Ross DerouenBigger Pockets is a great place to find an accountant specializing in real estate taxation.A good real estate accountant can save you thousands of dollars by leveraging entity selection and formation, tax deductions, cost segregations, bonus depreciation and tax planning.I recommend finding an accountant specializing in real estate taxation, business taxation, financial planning and tax planning.Consider working with your accountant remotely to expand your options.I would also recommend looking for an accountant willing to work with you throughout the year.

If you plan on living there, I would pick the place you want to live, then start investing.